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Shadow Vessel
The Shadow Vessel called Shadow Dreadnought by Sheridan (sometimes known as Battle Crab or The Ghost)Babylon 5 Season 3 DVD - Special features, Universe of Babylon 5: Shadow DossierThe Fall of Night was the primary starship of the Shadows. Characteristics Easily distinguished by its spiny, almost spider like shape and its constantly undulating black skin, Shadow vessels are known to have a deeply unsettling effect on sentients and can somehow project a scream like noise into the mind of any that get near it as it goes by.The Exercise of Vital Powers Even inactive, a Shadow Vessel is extremely dangerous. Dr. Mary Kirkish reported that during the dig at Syria Planum in 2253, a worker who touched the skin of the buried craft with his bare hands was instantly killed; "as if the life was just sucked right out of him" while a telepath who tried scanning it was driven insane.Deadly Relations - Bester Ascendant Image:BCLaunchingFighters01.jpg|A Shadow Vessel launching fighters. Image:BCFiringBeam01.jpg|A Shadow Vessel firing its high-energy beam weapon. Image:Mars Dig 02.png|Shadow Vessel excavated from Syria Planum. Image:Mars Dig 04.png|Shadow Vessel approaching the dig site on Syria Planum. Image:Mars Dig 05.png|Shadow Vessel reactivated on Mars, 2253. Image:Mars Dig 06.png|Two Shadow Vessels headed for Z'ha'dum, 2253. Armaments An extremely powerful war machine, its primary beam weapon has an energy output on par with a controlled thermonuclear reaction and can effortlessly cut through even a four mile wide space station from a range of around a dozen miles.JMS post on CIS - 2/23/1996 2:33:00 PM A direct hit from this weapon is under normal circumstances sufficient to destroy almost any known ship and a fully operational Shadow Vessel never misses. The Shadow vessel also possesses a weapon capable of destabilizing jump points. When fired into active hyperspace vortex it causes the formed jump point to quickly collapse, which leads to a massive shockwave that will destroy any ships caught in the blast radius. Auxiliary crafts Aside from their role as front line warships, Shadow Vessels also act as motherships to a number of smaller craft including transports and a complement of fighters.Shadow Dancing They have even been known to capture and take on board small non-Shadow craft such as an Earth Alliance Starfury.Z'ha'dum (episode) Operational systems Like most Shadow Technology, these ships require a living component to operate. This take the form of a specially prepared sentient being that once merged, acts as the ship's central processing unit. The only known weakness in this system is susceptibility to telepathic interference. A sufficiently strong telepath can effectively "jam" a ship's systems leaving it vulnerable to attack from conventional energy weapons.Ship of TearsWalkabout Propulsion Like all First One ships, save the Vorlons and Lorien's Vessel, Shadow vessels have never been observed utilising normal Jump points and instead appear to "phase" between normal space and Hyperspace.Matters of HonorThe Coming of Shadows They have however been observed operating in planetary atmospheres in temperatures exceeding 12,000 standard units and gravity wells well over 2 standard gravities before succumbing to the pressure.Messages from EarthThe Hour of the Wolf Behind the Scenes The ship was created by Foundation Imaging Co-Founder Ron Thornton.B5Scrolls Appearances References ;Other Sources * The Official Guide to Babylon 5 (CD ROM) Category:Shadow Ships Category:Ship classes